Maryam Tafakory's Solo Exhibition at State of Concept Athens

On May 31, 2024, State of Concept Athens will debut a solo exhibition featuring Iranian artist Maryam Tafakory, part of its ongoing State Affairs series. The exhibition showcases three films: Mast-del (2023), Irani Bag (2020), and Nazarbazi (2022). Tafakory's artistic approach fuses film and performance, crafting collages that intertwine poetry, documentary, and archival content to examine the erasure of bodies, relationships, and histories. Her research-driven work delves into post-revolution Iranian cinema. Mast-del, a love song exploring forbidden desires, premiered at Cannes Directors' Fortnight and was recognized in Film Comment's and Sight & Sound's lists of the Best Short Films of 2023. The earlier films critique the censorship of women's bodies and forbidden love using clips from 1990s Iranian cinema. Since 2017, State Affairs has highlighted video and moving image artists whose essayistic practices tackle themes of racism, religion, futurism, post-colonial discourse, and nationalism.